Stark-Pa. link is new reason to modernize Route 30

Sunday

Jan 5, 2014 at 12:01 AM

The issue: Route 30

The issue: Route 30

Just when you think you know your community, you find out something that makes you see it in a new light. Such was our sense of discovery in learning about the critical industrial and commercial connection between Stark County and Western Pennsylvania.

As you'll have seen in news stories and guest columns in today's Rep, the connection between Stark and the Pittsburgh area is ever more important as drilling for natural gas and oil increases in both areas, expanding markets and business opportunities not only for the energy sources but also for their byproducts.

And that link makes it all the more crucial that government officials in both Ohio and Pennsylvania — including Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Stark County's state legislators — get behind efforts to improve the infrastructure between Stark County and Western Pennsylvania.

Yes, this is about U.S. Route 30, a source of dashed hopes in Stark County for at least half a century.

The stretch of Route 30 east of Trump Avenue into Columbiana County is the last part of the route in Ohio that is still a two-lane divided highway. The rest of Route 30 is serving 21st-century needs; our section is stuck in the early 20th century, with all the limitations that entails.

But local business and transportation industry officials are making a push to open some influential eyes in Columbus about the growing importance of Route 30, and we encourage that effort.

One major problem with the long-sought relocation and widening of Route 30 between Trump Avenue and Route 11 in Columbiana County is, of course, money. It's not an insurmountable problem.

One possibility suggested by Doug Sibila, president and CEO of Peoples Services here, is to raise the severance tax on oil and natural gas drilling. We've long supported an increase, and devoting the proceeds to projects such as a new Route 30 in areas where the drilling is occurring makes all the sense in the world.

Faster travel on a new Route 30 would benefit numerous businesses, not just energy and trucking companies, and would make this area more attractive for new jobs. We are encouraged by the way local business and transportation industry leaders are connecting some important dots for the future of Stark County and points east.